Showing posts with label custom japanese kitchen knives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label custom japanese kitchen knives. Show all posts

FARBERWARE 11 PC FORGED FINE EDGE CUTLERY SET

FARBERWARE 11 PC FORGED FINE EDGE CUTLERY SETAWESOME knives! Affordable for home use, but heavy enough for professional use! Chef's knife is a real STUD!! Partoku is the stand out, most useful knife I have ever had!Really incredible quality for the price!

Arabian Sugar Bowl With lid.

Arabian Sugar Bowl With lid.i love my new sugar bowl actually, my sweet 'n low bowl over the years i have spent a fortune replacing the sweet 'n low bowl with a glass bowl from the sw 'n low people now they don't even seem to have them at least i know if i drop this one it won't break and it's actually much nicer than the glass bowl and the price was tres bonne!!

Yamazaki Hospitality Austen 5-Piece Basic Serving Set

Yamazaki Hospitality Austen 5-Piece Basic Serving SetI've used these for a couple of get togethers now and they are absolutely great. Friends have been asking for them so I guess I'll be buying more! They are heavy, pretty, and perfect for party size serving dishes. I've not seen a scratch (even though they reside in a drawer full of other utensils) and I love the heft.

Nice!

These seem to be nice quality serving pieces, Plain pattern would complement any tablesetting. The price is very reasonable for the quality.

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Shells Cheese Spreader Set of 4

Shells Cheese Spreader Set of 4These spreaders are very beautiful! They compliment. Any beach themed event or shore home. They are well crafted and beautiful to look at and use with many different foods.

Ostart Fruit Peelers Pineapple Corer Slicer Cutter Parer Cutter Knife Stainless Kitchen Tool

Ostart Fruit Peelers Pineapple Corer Slicer Cutter Parer Cutter Knife Stainless Kitchen ToolI was very skeptical about the product but, I was amazed who effortlesly you can perfectly core and slice the pineapple..GOOD INVENTION

My wife found this on Amazon and asked me to order it for her. To qualify for free shipping, I added a book to the order. The book arrived the next day, this item took 10 days. Why? It was airmailed from Jinhua, Zhejiang, China, where is well known for its ham like that of Smithfield. While the corer does work, it is not professionally polished and is just like something made in a home-factory. The box, with brand name as Flagship, was soft and wrinkled. I checked on Amazon and found it basically the same as the Stainless Steel Pineapple Easy Slicer, Corer by KF Kitchen, sold by and shipped from lightbox, for $4.29. If you buy this as a gift or hold high standard and plan to return it, you may want to think twice, because the return postage may cost more than what you pay.

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I do love it, ihad bought some before for gifts and everyone loved them. A person I had given one to ask me to by 2 for her for gifts. It makes cutting pineapple so easy. I have eaten more pineapple last year and this year than my 76 years, because it's so easy to cut and my mom in her last 96 years has eaten more, because of the cutter. It is excellent.

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Shipping takes too long, the reviews were great , but in all it looks very strong product, that will do a good pine apple job

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Great product, used it straight away with great success. did exactly what was required, came out in perfect rings. I wish I had bought it years ago.

Unica Flatware Collection "Daniel" 24-Piece Black-Handle, Vibro Finish Flatware Set plus Organizer,

Unica Flatware Collection 'Daniel' 24-Piece Black-Handle, Vibro Finish Flatware Set plus Organizer, Service for 6The item description says "soup spoons and teaspoons," which lead me to believe that the soup spoons would be really significantly large like soup spoons often are. The labeling on the set itself has them as "dinner spoons" which is much more accurate a description of the spoon size than "soup spoons" and the teaspoons are, surprisingly enough in this day and age of blown proportions, about teaspoon size. Well, maybe two teaspoons but still significantly smaller.

The set's classy enough and the included drawer organizer is pretty okay though you can probably find something better at any box store for cheap. If I could rate things with half stars, this would get 4.5, but since I can't, it gets rounded down. I'll probably buy another set at some point if only to replace the teeny spoons that have instantly doomed themselves to a life of being used to stir coffee...or being used as actual spoons when I want to feel like a giant...yeah.

These are very cheaply made and feel light. They are about 3/4 size when compared to normal utensils. I kind of knew this when I purchased them, I did so because I live alone and at my age Im not trying to impress anybody. but i suggest that if guality is necessary pay more and get what you want.

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My husband and I decided to stop using disposable flatware at work, and we each wanted a set of cheap, reusable flatware. This set serves 6 and costs far less than most of the ones you buy as one-offs. It's not the strongest or prettiest, but it does the job, and you can't beat the price. We use the remaining 4 settings for camping.

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I bought this for my daughter's dorm apartment. I couldnt believe a bunch of girls wouldn't plan for their kitchen. I came home from moving her in and promptly started looking for kitchenware. I saw this great flatware set with a great price and purchased it for them. Amazon shipped it promptly and the girls received it in two days. They said it is a great set and they are thrilled. (BTW I also sent them dishes and cookware) Ahhh college kids.

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These utensils are way too small. The smaller spoons are more like baby spoons. I thought this must be a joke. Utter waste of money.

New Thick Stainless Steel Grapefruit Spoon, Dessert Spoon, Serrated Edge, Set of 6

New Thick Stainless Steel Grapefruit Spoon, Dessert Spoon, Serrated Edge, Set of 6High quality spoons nice heavy steel with good edges. Low price relative to other steel spoons. They work great on my morning grapefruit I couldn't be happier. Arrived within a day after my order shipping was great.

These spoons are great quality for the price. They came each individually wrapped, and are a little more modern looking than most. The serrated part of the spoon extends farther up on the sides of the spoon than most other grapefruit spoons, and because of that they work really well. They are a little light weight, though.

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A very good grapefruit set but I wish the serrated edges were a little better.

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I love these spoons. It is nice to be able to eat grapefruit again like I did when I was growing up. The serrated edges do a great job in helping me dig into my grapefruit. I wish I would have ordered these sooner.

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The quality of the spoons is horrible. They really feel like those you get at 4/1$ at the dollar store. The edges are randomly serrated and they feel like they are going to bend when trying to tear some grapefruit fibers. They are NOT thick at all.

returned mine.

Shun Kitchen Shears

Shun Kitchen ShearsI test drove many, many products by every name brand while shopping for kitchen shears, and the moment I lifted these shears out of the box and held them in my hands, I knew the search for meat and poultry shears was over. It was one of those "So this is the dining room" moments.

These are the Rolls Royce of kitchen shears. They are beefy enough to use on chicken bones and include a bone notch for that purpose, but are relatively lightweight and incredibly comfortable to use. The blades are extremely tough and sharp; the blade action is sublimely smooth. My only quibble with these shears is that I would prefer the blade tips be a tad sharper, but that is a minor quibble since these shears are dedicated for meat and poultry; I have other shears with smaller, sharper blade tips if I need them.

If you don't need to trim meat and poultry, these shears may be overkill for you. I also own both Fiskars and Victorinox kitchen shears and can unhesitatingly recommend them both for general kitchen use, although the Victorinox shears do not come apart for cleaning. In my humble opinion, the Shun shears are the ONLY general purpose kitchen shears on the market to use with poultry. If you do much trimming of meats or butchering of poultry, buy these shears!

(A cautionary note: Shun and Kershaw are now the same company. Please don't even consider buying the less expensive Shun or Kerhsaw "Taskmaster" shears before going to a store and comparing the two by holding them in your hands and testing them. The difference in the quality between the "Taskmaster" and these shears is night and day.)

When trying to decide whether or not to purchase these shears I wanted to see some reviews but there weren't any. I decided to buy them anyway and I just got them today so I wanted to leave feedback in case anyone is in the same boat, even though I haven't really used them too much. I'll start off by saying I'm a man with average sized hands.

First, these have a weight to them that my other kitchen shears Chicago Cutlery and Wustoff don't have, most likely because they use metal through the handle as you can see in the picture. The handles are made with a rubber-like material that is very easy to grip, wet or dry. They feel better in my hands than the other 2 sets I have, mainly because they have exactly enough space for all 4 of my fingers. They are extremely smooth out of the box and *very* precise. I say this because when I took them out of the box I pulled them apart to inspect them closer. I then tried to put them back together and wasn't able to. After a few minutes of fooling around with them I realized there was the tiniest little spec of dust on 1 of the blades. After removing it the blades snapped back together perfectly and feel as solid as ever.

I'll add more feedback after I use them for a little while but I've got to say, so far I've very impressed and seem to be worth the extra money they are definitely shun quality.

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As I get older, (way too fast), I find myself slower and less sure when cutting awkward items in the kitchen; like taking out a chicken or worse, a turkey backbone. A cut I used to make easily as doing a brass zipper hangs and I find myself trying to force pry a sharp chef's knife tip through bone joints. With the strength I'm putting into it, all it takes is one slip and the knife becomes a dangerous wild edge.

I've watched cooking shows with interest where the chef grabs a pair of scissors and snips safely through these same bony sections. Only when I've checked out the poultry snips in various stores, I've thought them uninspiring and sometimes horrid. Some are cheap stamped steel, some were flimsy, and others were polished or chromed but never meant to be real tools. After fifty years of using cutlery and slowly upgrading to high quality knives I've learned to be leery of steel marketed to be showy but not truly designed for efficient work.

Currently I only own one Shun knife, but I do admit to lusting for more of their knives. Unless Shun is terrifically marked down I just don't have an excuse to retire a Wusthof. I will spring for a Shun to fill a void though.

Truth be told, my Shun scissors arrived today and I really haven't used them yet. I was disappointed to find them in a blister pack and I only checked into Amazon to verify they were the right pair. A blister pack definitely cheapens them, handling the scissors convinced me though; easily twice as beefy as other poultry shears I`ve handled.

Like:

Heavy through the handle solid steel, short blades with long handles contributing to great leverage (think tin snips). Easy disassembly and cleaning, cuts everything I've used it on. I'm defrosting chicken right now so I can try them out in the kitchen later on.

Not so great:

The snips are finished a little rough. Edges not meant to be sharp are sharp, grinder marks are left on the cutting edges. I used a diamond hone and rounded the sharp corners and sharpened the cutting edges till the grinder marks were gone.

Dislike:

All right, maybe I was expecting too much, but the steel used in these scissors is not a hard knife steel. Grinder marks that should have taken an hour or more to remove if I was removing them from a wood chisel, were removed in less than ten minutes. This steel is soft relative to good cutlery steel. I suspect there was a tradeoff in utilizing rustproof stainless versus rust resistant high carbon steel. I'd rather Shun designed these for people who care about their tools instead of the fools who'd leave blood or salt on them. Well, I touch up or sharpen even my best knives every use, I guess I can retouch the edge of these scissors frequently too.

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I bought these scissors around March of 2012. I've got the Ken Onion 10 inch chef's knife, the 7" santoku, a couple paring knives, sharpening stone and a bamboo slot block to hold them all. I bought these scissors to go into the front of the block and match my set. The only reason I bought this pair of scissors was because of the good reviews by the others and because of the brand.

These are not good reasons to buy this pair of scissors. Out of the box they cannot cut plastic bags which is one of the primary things I do when I open frozen salmon, veggies, etc. The tolerance they put into the connector holding the two sides together is too great.

Additionally the handles are NOT made with as advertised on this page with Ebony-black PakkaWood. It's just cheap plastic.

Finally, the leverage for cutting through food is not that great because they have the focal point so far from the hand. If you don't have strong, big hands like mine you will not be able to effectively use these scissors. My wife cannot use them.

I'm stuck with these because I did not return them within the 30 days, but there's much better out there especially for this price.

These scissors do not match the quality of the Ken Onion Shun line of cutlery.

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The Shun Shears cut through the backbone of a chicken as though it was butter. After years of working on a computer, my hands have lost a lot of strength. These shears are very helpful. They are well-designed and easily come apart for cleaning. They are pricey, but worth every penny!

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Gibson Mr Coffee Whistling 2-Quart Tea Kettle

Gibson Mr Coffee Whistling 2-Quart Tea KettleI love my kettle. I bought it back in December and have been using it 3-4 times a day. It's nothing fancy mind you, but it gets the job done. The whistle starts out as a gentle hum, so it gives a fair warning before it sets off into full steam. No rust. Just a plain, functional kettle. I'm glad I bought it. It could've shipped faster, but so could everything....

pretty quickly to very easy to clean and fill I really love this tea kettle.I would recommend this for all of the tea goers!

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My last Tea Kettle was horrible and didn't last very well. This Tea Kettle appears to be exactly what any person needs when it pertains to quality.

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We keep it on the stove for making hot water as it is needed. It has a nice, bright finish and looks nice sitting there on the stove. It heats quickly and does not leak. What else can you say about a teakettle?

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Really a good price and a well built kettle...HOWEVER, the handle is not well designed. You may have to tighten the phillips head screw occasionally. Don't overfill. (A fill line is imprinted on the outside.) The whistle is loud, the quality is good. BUT watch that handle.

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Victorinox Butcher, Black Fibrox, 10 in.

Victorinox Butcher, Black Fibrox, 10 in.This butchers knife makes large cuts of meat a breeze to cut through. The long blade lets you make less strokes as you cut leaving you with a cleaner end result.

Very nice balance and control for a midsize butcher knife. The knife came with a nice sharp edge and holds it well. Easy to clean and a great feeling kitchen tool.

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I was very pleased to find an affordable high quality knife. They come sharp but can be honed to a razors edge.

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This knife has been a great addition to my collection. Mainly use it for cutting venison, beef, or pork when making sausages, but also great with vegetables. Order a sheath for safe storage.

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I haven't got a chance to use it yet. It is very sharp and sturdy. Needs to be careful when using it.

grapefruit spoon set

grapefruit spoon setThese spoons work really well for digging into grapefruit. I wouldn't say they're anything close to fine silverware, but they are pretty sturdy and I can see them lasting a long time.

For roughly $4, these spoons are a good deal. However, they were slightly flimsier than I expected, for lack of a better description. They feel kind of thin and light. However, they allow you to easily eat grapefruit, which is really all that matters. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase.

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Ordered this for my husband as a stocking stuffer, was having a terrible time finding one at a store! This does just what we need and was definitely worth the price.

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A nice pair of grapefruit spoons. Not too heavy, not too wimpy. Shipped really quickly as well. I'm the only grapefruit eater in my family so a set of two was just right for me. I'm pleased with them.

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These spoons are wider at the tip than other grapefruit spoons I have seen. The metal is also a bit light weight.

Citrus Knife and Peeler

Citrus Knife and PeelerI always used a similar item growing up but never owned one since out on my own. I found this one online and ordered it about six months ago. I was surprised how thin the cutting edge was, but it seemed to work for a few oranges. Didn't use it for many months since no oranges bought. Pulled it out the other day to use on a clementine and the cutting edge snapped off immediately. Broken after only a few uses! Highly disappointed. Sad since I really liked the translucent color options. I think I will continue my search and try one of the uglier, but hopefully more sturdy, designs since this one was useless.

I have one of these and couldn't remember where I got it. I wanted another and everyone that sees me use it wants one too. I have been searching high and low and just found this. I am thrilled! This is the best citrus peeler I have ever used especially for the price. (I have never tried the ones that cost $50.00 since they are too pricey for me.) Well worth the money. I am buying several. Great for a stocking stuffer or token gift for anyone that will definitely be used and appreciated as well. It's the best. Give a try. You won't regret it.

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The citrus peeler itself is good, works well and nice ergonomics, even fits my 10 yr olds hand. I was under the impression though that it would come with all 3. I probably just read it wrong, but other than thing I was getting 3 not 1, it is a good product.

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Cambridge Silversmiths Abbott Black 20-Piece Flatware Set, 18/0 Stainless Steel

Cambridge Silversmiths Abbott Black 20-Piece Flatware Set, 18/0 Stainless SteelA new style silverware that I like. The color was exactly what I was looking for and they have a slight weight on them also, very unique

These are silver colored, with black handles. The picture makes the stainless seem almost black, but they are not.

There were some imperfections on the pieces toward the bottom where the silver filigree is painted, but it does not bother me too terribly much. These are nicely weighted pieces, and they are quite sturdy. They wash up well.

Beware that when you first remove them from the packaging, some of the black may come off. Not recommended that you wear white ;) I have had no troubles with them bleeding color after washing them.

All in all, not a bad set of silverware for the price. I wanted a more rustic looking set of silverware to go with my feastware; more along the lines of medieval and old fashioned so these work very well.

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Victorinox Forschner Fibrox Hollow Edge 7.5" Santoku Knife with Blade Guard Red

Victorinox Forschner Fibrox Hollow Edge 7.5' Santoku Knife with Blade Guard RedI've been using this Santoku for almost everything since I bought it. Very sharp, lightweight and a good size for the kind of cooking I usually do. The blade guard is simple, effective and not bulky like some. Great value.

Got this for a good friend, she uses a Santuko style for everything and the one she had wasn't very good. This model is the perfect size for her and the handle makes it comfortable to use the entire meal. Blade seems to be staying nice and sharp like the day she opened it.

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Calphalon Katana Cutlery 7-Inch Santoku Knife

Calphalon Katana Cutlery 7-Inch Santoku KnifeI've always liked Calphalon's products, and this one is no different. Great knife. Been using it for about 3 months and still very happy with it.

We've got a set of these badboys and they slice and dice like champs. I have zero complaints. For the price you can't do better.

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Rust spots on the first use. Used the knife for cutting vegetables did not leave the knife wet after using it.

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IKEA - LÄRD 20-piece flatware set, stainless steel

IKEA - LÄRD 20-piece flatware set, stainless steelI needed some new everyday stainless and was quite tempted by the 20-piece $8.95 and $11.95 stuff the had, until I actually looked at it and held it. It reminds me of "throw away" silverware. For a few $ more, the Idea Lard is much more stylish and double the weight of the the cheaper sets. Its currently selling for $19.95 for a a 20 piece set. I think that is a very good price. It has a unique contemporary style and heft that you would expect from more expensive stainless.

Global G-25 - 9 1/2 inch Ceramic Sharpener

Global G-25 - 9 1/2 inch Ceramic SharpenerAs a professional chef, I have used quite a number of steels, and I must say that this is the best 'steel' I have used. The ceramic does a wonderful job of honing my knives to a perfect edge and I like that you can buy replacement ceramic in case you drop it or break it somehow. I would definately buy again.

Had it for almost two years with almost daily use. Still puts a nice edge on my global and my other cheap knives as well.

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It's not cheap, however, if you steel your knives with this before most uses they will be sharper than when they came from the factory. Really!

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Yamazaki Austen 5 Piece Placesetting, Service for 1

Yamazaki Austen 5 Piece Placesetting, Service for 1I'd like to thank you for the fast and very caring way you sent me this order. I can easily rate these place settings with 5 stars. once again thank you.

Marvin Stover

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Pure Komachi by Kai 6-1/2-Inch Stainless-Steel Santoku Knife with Scalloped Edge

Pure Komachi by Kai 6-1/2-Inch Stainless-Steel Santoku Knife with Scalloped EdgeI have a set of Wüsthof Grand Prix (7 knives). It does not include a Santoku knife. So, I preordered a Komachi Santoku knife with scallops for a try. After waiting about two months, I finally received my knife from Amazon. I was surprised and somehow disappointed when I saw this knife. This knife has a purple pink color. It is very cute and looks like a girl's toy, not a cooking knife. So I let it sit for days without touching it. Until one day, I met a chef at a local grocery store, she used Komachi knives and highly recommended them. So I thought at least I should give it a try. I tested the purple knife side by side with my favorite Wüsthof 6" chef knife for cutting cheese and potatoes. These two knives are very similar in size. However, the Komachi knife is significantly lighter in weight and thinner in blade than the Wüsthof chef knife. After testing, I was very surprised! I usually use a utility knife instead of a chef knife for cutting potatoes to prevent foods from sticking. I found that the resin coating and scallops for the Komachi knife really prevented foods from sticking. I can cut cheese and potatoes much faster and effectively than using the chef knife. In addition, the Santoku knife can slice foods thinner than the chef knife. Right now, I still use my Wüsthof knives. I use this purple knife for cutting foods that stick to the blade. If you are thinking about buying an all-purpose or a vegetable knife and do not have strong expectations about what a good knife is supposed to be (such as a knife's color and appearance), this will be a good knife for you. I highly recommend it.

My husband and I love to cook! We decided we needed a good knife and we were not sure which one to buy but one thing we were sure about was the money we were going to spend. We were looking for something under $20 and while we were searching for one, we came across this. It sure was very promising! After doing a lot of research about what knives we wanted, we decided we need a sharp one with a scalloped edge and took a risk of buying this and so far we don't regret this!!

Pros:

1. Sharp and was far better than other knives we have ever used (Chicago cutlery, Faberware etc)

2. Good balance and worked well with both small and large hand (mine and my hubby's)

3.Full tang and it goes a long way in a good cut!!

4.Light weight,my hands were not tired and I think it proves that knife does not have to be heavy to cut well.

Cons:

1. If you want your knife to look professional,the color of this knife might put you off.

2. It may look toy like to some people.

3. Sometimes, veggies stick to the side.

Overall, it is great buy for the price you pay and in my books it is $19 well spent on a good knife!! If all you care about is the job a knife does instead of how it looks, I think this can fit very well.

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I wanted to update this review after almost a year's use. I still own this knife and this happens to be the main knife I use for dicing and chopping. Well, after almost a year's use, the blade has worn off a little but is still in great working condition. I sharpened it using a knife sharpener and I have no regrets whatsoever buying this knife. Still it is a top runner in my home. Yes the knife gets stained a little but that's fine with me. Final word You may need to sharpen it after a year and the blades get stained little bit. After sharpening, it has bounced back to its original self!!!! Buy it and you won't believe how useful it gets for the price you paid.

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I bought a couple of these knives on a lark three years ago and have used them everyday to slice everything. I have never been disappointed, never.

I sharpen them rarely, and then only 10 or so passes on a steel are required to bring them back to the sharpness that will effortlessly cut extremely thin tomato slices .

I have Gerber (impossible to sharpen and dull quickly), Wustoff (heavy and dull quickly) and others which are too heavy and require constant sharpening or maintance.

These lightweitht knives have a very thin blade and whatever combo of carbon and stainless Komachi used, is the perfect recipe for sharpness and holding an edge.

Will only buy this brand now.

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I have the Shun Classic lines Santoku which cuts like a dream 6 months since I bought it. That knife's weight helps it glide effortlessly through piles of vegetables. We are vegetarian & love our veg, I prep and cook literally lbs of veg a day, bought this to try since the price was right and so many reviews were positive, and I wanted an extra one when I did not want to wash up between the onions and the apples or whatever.

Well I'm disappointed. It IS sharp, and works, but the very weightlessness prevents it from working like a good Santoku should -you can just rock to effortlessly slice. Also slicing plantain bananas stained the blade badly, am afraid to scrub heavily since the resin coating looks delicate. So I will bite the bullet and pick up a great set of Shun knives, because with THIS one, my hands ache after a couple of handfuls of beans from the effort and I still have 10 handfuls to get thro... Might be an option for an older person who cant hold a heavy knife. So yes you would add an extra digit to the price by going for the real thing, but a good knife is SO worth it. It was also more sticky than my un scalloped shun, so the scallops didn't seem to be working either. I am not returning it since my M-I-L can't hold a heavy knife, and still likes a big knife so that might be a situation in which you buy this. I would also recommend that you pass on the henckels, wusthof, sabatier etc since I've spent literally thousands of $ on them and have not been as happy with them as with my single shun knife.

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These are the nicest knives I have ever used. They are very sharp and the coating allows them to slide easily through whatever you're cutting. You can cut paper thin slices of Apple or many other items. The knives are color coded which is intended to help you keep them segregated when preparing a big meal. Use one for meats, one for vegetables.

Some have mentioned that you can't sharpen these, but I see no reason that would be a problem. Sharpening affects only a tiny amount of the blade at the edge which isn't coated anyway. But I haven't experienced any loss of sharpness despite using the knives constantly.

I'm planning to buy these for my family for Christmas. At $20 each or so, they perform better than other more expensive knives I have purchased.

Chroma 10-Piece Knife Set with Block

Chroma 10-Piece Knife Set with BlockThree years ago, my sister and I took cooking classes together and after the knife skills class both decided to get new cutlery sets. She settled on a famous well regarded set of German knives and I bought the 10-piece Chroma Type 301 knives designed by F. A. Porsche.

I looked at Wusthof and Shun knives, both fine brands, but kept being attracted to the Chroma Type 301 because of the ergonomics of the handle. The Chroma 301 knives were the only knives that truly felt comfortable in my hand. I wanted to like the Shun knives but the "D" shaped handle never felt as natural as the Porsche designed handle. The Chroma 301 seemed like a natural extension of my hand and arm. I was also attracted to the beauty of the all stainless design. I have had occasion to use both my sister's Wusthof set and my Chroma set and I am extremely happy that I chose the Chroma knives.

These knives are razor sharp, hold their edge and, with a little practice, are easy to hone on the waterstone. The narrow-set bevel is very similar to Shun and other Japanese knives. In terms of fish, its sharpness ensures that you are slicing with an absolute minimum of damage to the flesh, an important factor in maintaining the optimum taste of the fish. I am thrilled each time I prepare a meal with these knives and I find that I frequently use all eight of the various styles of knives. With my previous W. R. Case cutlery, I found myself basically using only two knives, the Chef's knife and a paring knife. After using these knives for three years, I find them to be the ideal knives for the amateur or professional cook. One does have to learn that Chroma knives are designed to slice through food. Heavy handed chopping simply is not needed.

These knives have taught me the importance of using a truly sharp knife. I used to have to "saw" my way through potatoes but now easily slicing through potatoes with a Chroma knife is a delight. It is the dull knife that is the dangerous knife.

With knives of this quality, I do think it is important to hand-wash them, dry them, and keep them stored in a knife-block. The sharp edge of any good knife will eventually be damaged in a dishwasher. Because I so love and respect my Chroma knives, I am a little protective of them. For those times when people insist on helping me in the kitchen, I keep my 8-piece Case cutlery set available so they have a set of their own. I dislike using other people's cutlery [to me it is too personal like using their toothbrush] so, if I know I am going to be helping cook a meal somewhere else, I take at least a chef's knife, a Santoku, and a paring knife with me. If you buy this set, you will understand why Chefs always carry their own knives with them.

While I believe no one knife set will necessarily be for everyone, I strongly urge you to try a Chroma knife. If you are like me, you may discover it is the knife you always dreamed about.

I've owned some high end French and German knives for about 20 years, and like most owners of such knives, I almost never sharpened them and when I did, I probably did more damage than good. As a result, my high end European knives of days gone by were OK for cutting butter, but only if you ran them under the InstaHot just beforehand :-)

I share a business house with a business partner in a distant city, and by coincidence he is a graduate of a French restaurant management school and actually spent a number of months working in the kitchens of some starred restaurants in France. We decided that we needed to replace the hand-me-down knives that we donated to this house with some knives that were actually functional, being as we both like to cook and we like to eat. So, we decided to buy this set of Porsche knives, after finding them at a good price through an Amazon storefront merchant. Since it was such a good deal, I decided I needed to get a set myself as well :-)

We've received these knives and I've had a chance to play around with them a bit, although my experience with them is limited at this point. They are certainly beautiful and in the knife block they are shown off very well. There are 9 knives and only 8 slots in the knife block, so one of the smaller knives is going to have to find another place to live in. Although advertised as a knifeblock that can be disassembled for cleaning, the one I got is solidly glued together and good luck getting it apart -that is not going to happen. Also, the #800 Porsche whetstone was included in our sets, even though not explicitly listed in the sales listing. Therefore, DO NOT order one of the whetstones separately as suggested by Amazon (we did this and they are going back) since you already get one with the set. You will probably also want a harder whetstone for finishing, something in the 3000 to 4000 grit range. Don't feel limited by the need to get a Chroma branded whetstone for this -any good Japanese branded one should do. And, you may also want to get a leather strop and abrasive compound for it, but that may be less necessary, for final polishing.

The knives themselves are sharp and cut well. The overall aesthetic and one piece with integrated handle design please me, but whether they will please you is another question and after reading a number of reviews of these knives on the web, I think there are lovers and haters of this design. The knifeblock looks nice.

These knives ARE made in China, but appear to be very well made. Just because something is made in China does not mean that it is junk; that all depends on the quality control and in this case it appears to be good. Since I don't really regard these as being Japanese made knives (the Chroma Porsche 301 series), that does not disappoint me. How well these will hold and how long they will remain sharp is only a question of time to determine. I may update this review later if I have anything to add on that score.

A final note on kitchen knives, country of manufacture, and steels used: The basic storyline which you can read all over the internet is that quality European knives (e.g. German and French, and you need to be very particular about these because many of these brands have versions made in other places at much lower price points, most of which are JUNK) are made with softer steels which dull more easily, and the Japanese knives are king, using harder steels that are more durable and hold an edge longer. While there is truth to that you have to separate out the verbiage you will read based upon whether the people writing it are what I will call "knife enthusiasts," e.g. "collectors," not really "users," or people who actually like to cook and who use knives to prepare food with. Collectors tend to get bogged down with numerical ratings of knives such as "hardness scales," and other theoretical stuff that may or may not have applicability to you in your own kitchen trying to use knives to cook with. One thing is sure, and that is that if your knives are not sharp, they are useless and potentially dangerous to use.

I have electric knife sharpeners and other manual knife sharpeners and in reality, these things are useless at best and damage knives at worst. You can however fix your previously damaged and mistreated knives with a few different whetstones and some time and patience. I have done that with my previously abandoned European knives that were worthless the last decade or two and now they cut almost as well as some brand new high end Japanese made knives I've recently purchased. And I'm not talking hours; each long neglected knife I worked on got maybe 10 minutes of my time in total, and now they cut better than when they were brand new. If you have some old high end knives you may find that you can resuscitate them with a little bit of attention on a couple of whetstones (use something rough like a 250 or 400 grit, followed by a ~1000 grit and then a 3000 to 4000 grit, plus optional stropping). There are many videos on the web demonstrating various techniques for doing this, using whetstones. Watch a few videos and pick a technique you think you are physically capable of executing, then do it. None of this is brain surgery.

Getting back to these Porsche Knives; they are nice, will probably look good in your kitchen, and will probably give most any "real user" or cook (as opposed to a collector) real service in their home kitchen, and with some occasional attention with whetstones, will cut well and you will never think that you need to buy another knife. Are these as "good" as some of those expensive handmade Japanese knives made from super hard steels, plus or minus Damascus decoration? Maybe not, but I doubt you will notice that in actual use in your kitchen. In home use you might need to sharpen these Porsche knives a bit more frequently than some of the harder steeled Japanese knives, but again, in home use, you are probably talking about a couple of extra minutes spent on each knife every 6 months. I would not get too bogged down on these technical details and steel compositions because this stuff in the end probably does not have any relevance to you in your home kitchen. It would not be a bad idea to go see a set of these knives in a store or kitchen first before buying them, just to be sure that they will suit you. I would suggest this for any brand of knives. I'll let the professional chefs address these issues to their colleagues, which would be a different set of issues for people using knives for hours and hours every day.

But there are so many good knives out there, and the truth is that within that group there are probably no bad choices, even though people who are passionate about knives tend to discuss these things in black and white, as if they are either terrific or total junk.

*************Addendum 4-6-2013***************

I've now had and used these knives for several months, in both my primary home and in the business home I share with my business partner in another city. Out of the box, some of these knives are not all that sharp, although I have also purchased some much more expensive Japanese made knives whose sharpness when received was less than stellar. These Porsche 301 knives can be sharpened to a high degree of sharpness, if you use whetstones and a strop as I described in my review above. After the initial sharpening, assuming that you are treating your knives with "respect," you should be able to resharpen them back to a very fine edge again using only the finest whetstone (I'm using a 3000 or 4000) and a strop, with no need for a coarser stone. Porsche says that a home chef will only need to sharpen their Porsche knives every 6 months, however that is really a joke if you use them daily. By 2 months they are going to seem noticeably duller than before, and after 3 months they likely will be unpleasant to use if you value sharpness in a knife. If you are really meticulous, and/or you don't have a large number of knives (hence using a few knives over and over every day) then I think you may need to sharpen once a month or even more frequently. Alternatively, you may want to do a major sharpening session every few months where you sharpen all your knives, and in between re-sharpening sessions where you just spend a few minutes sharpening the most-used knives in your collection.

These Porsche knives in my opinion do not hold an edge as long as expensive handmade Japanese knives, but are about comparable to decent quality European knives (e.g. better than those cheap Spanish made "Wusthof" knife sets sold at Costco and other mass market merchants, but worse than the expensive top end European knives made in Germany and France). On sale you can get a set of these Porsche knives for a very attractive price, and if you like the style and feel of them, they make a nice all around set for a home kitchen.

If you aren't willing to sharpen these knives (or any good knife) regularly, then you might as well buy the cheapest knives you can find, because no knife (except maybe a ceramic one) will function well over a long period of time without intermittent sharpening.

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